RAVENWOOD
by BrooklynDon
Summary: YOULL HAVE TO READ TO FIND OUT!


**The beginning**

"Beep, beep, beep." I lifted my head just enough to see the time on my alarm clock, 8: 00 a.m. "Hey Stephen" by Taylor Swift started to play from somewhere on my dresser. I slammed my hand down on the alarm clock and shut off the alarm but in the process smashed it to smithereens.  
"Man, that's the 3rd one this week!" I yelled at the crushed clock. I walked over to my dresser and searched for my phone. Finally I pulled out my silver LG enV and looked at the caller I.D. It was my mom, but it was a text message instead.

_Good morning, Amanda. Remember to wake your sister up. I wish I could be home to wish you both good luck at Ravenwood. I love you and will visit you soon.  
Love, Mom._

I grimaced and looked over at my sister, Elizabeth Taylor Bennett's, bed. My twin sister was under the covers and half way off the bed. I struggled trying to hold back my laughter. She was supposedly the more graceful one of the two of us, ha yeah right. I sighed and walked across the room to wake up the sleeping beast. I grabbed one of her pillows and threw it at her head. That did the trick. She looked up and then fell off of the bed. I finally couldn't help it. I let out one long musical laugh after another. Elizabeth stuck out her tongue and stood up and brushed herself off.  
"What was that for?" she asked accusingly.  
"Mom told me to wake you up," I replied innocently. I flashed a toothy smile and walked into the bathroom so she couldn't hit me with anything. It took me 30 minutes to shower, dry my hair, and put on some makeup. I took a chance and ran out of the bathroom and was on my bed dressed in less than 5 seconds. I chose a blue short sleeve shirt, my skinny jeans, and my faded white jacket that I had gotten for my birthday. I looked for Elizabeth and she was in our closet trying to flatten her hair.  
"Do you have to do that? You know the wind will fluff out my hair!" she half screamed while crushing the brush in her hand.  
"Umm sissy, your brush is…." I didn't finish because she was just getting madder.  
"Why does this have to happen? I'm tired of destroying everything. I'm tired of having to change schools all the time just because we have these stupid powers!" by this time she was on fire. "Water" I whispered. Water came out of nowhere and fizzled out her fire. She was now perfect. My water had flattened her hair. I walked to her and gave her a big hug. We turned to look in the mirror. We looked almost exactly alike except I had wavy, curly hair halfway down my back (she said I looked like Taylor Swift, yeah right) and she had straight hair. I had blue-green eyes with a tint of gold while she had chocolate brown-colored eyes. We both had a golden bronze color to our hair and we both were 16. Most people had trouble telling us apart. When it came to powers though, we were nothing alike.  
We both were super strong, but I had the ability to run as fast as…. Well honestly nothing that I knew of could run as fast as I could. I also had powers over the elements, you know like wind, earth, water and fire. All I had to do was saying their name and will them to do something (I'm still experimenting). Elizabeth could make anything she wanted materialize in her hand. I wish I had that gift because right now I could go for a pizza. The thing that bothered her was that she couldn't control her gifts. O yeah, one other thing when Elizabeth gets mad, she sets on fire, Not a very redeeming quality. Oh another thing … even though we do have powers... There are some consequences … like for instance whenever we meet somebody and say their full name we can't help but say their middle name as well.

"Amanda Marie Bennett!" I looked up and Elizabeth was half packed and ready to go to Ravenwood. I looked at her clock since mine was still broken and it said 10:00 a.m. I sat here for half an hour staring at my reflection trying to explain this whole mess.  
"Mandy, are you okay? You don't look so good." Elizabeth came up to me and felt my head. In her hand materialized a thermometer. She put it in my mouth and looked at the clock.  
"5 minutes Mandy." She said sounding like mom. Elizabeth really took care of me. She was 2 minutes older than I was (big whoop). She treats the minutes like they are years. I remember her taking out the thermometer but it went black after that. I struggled to open my eyes but they felt like they were glued shut. Finally I got them open, but I was not at home or in Ravenwood from what I could tell. For some strange reason I was running.  
"Elizabeth?" I tried to say but nothing came out of my mouth. I looked around and realized I was in the woods. The trees seemed to disappear from in front of me as I raced through the thick under brush. The ground seemed as fluffy and silky as a cloud and not like the ground should be. I looked down and realized that had no shoes on. The ground was littered with fresh autumn leaves and the trees half empty but still enough leaves to make them beautiful. After what seemed to be 15 minutes I came to a clearing, in that clearing was a girl lying on the ground with her eyes closed and a faint glow radiating off of her skin. I immediately recognized the strange girl that I had never met before and knew the purpose of her being here. She was Julia Faith Myers. She had the power to zap wherever she wanted and invisibility, she could also catch anything you threw at her, no matter how far. She was going to become my best friend, and I felt very protective of her. I ran closer and took a good look at her. She had dark chocolate colored hair that reached about a fourth down her back with big, soft curls that mirrored mine and hazel green eyes (her eyes were not open so I don't know how I knew that). She had a clear and glowing tan complexion, as well as a very small cut under her left eye. I wanted so bad to go over and wipe away the blood but something held me in the exact place I was standing. She was wearing a cute blue and white sundress, and flip-flops. Julia's toes were painted gold and blue. Even though she was not standing I could guess her height at about 5'0 to 5'3 feet. I was suddenly certain that I was not awake because I was recognizing every random detail about Julia and where I was. The clearing we were in was the most beautiful pasture I had ever seen. The grass was a bright green and covered in yellow, purple, orange and green leaves. There were little blue and white flowers sprouting all around Julia. The sun was peeking over the trees lined around us. Most of them looked like pine and oak trees, they were all very tall but full of bright leaves. The sky was red and blue.  
"Twilight," I tried to comment but still nothing would come out of my mouth. Twilight I remembered from a class was the safest and strongest time for us immortals. I looked back at Julia and her skin was glowing gold. I looked at my skin and it was also glowing but it was a faint baby blue. I looked around and the meadow was glowing as well but not so much a color as just glowing. Every part and every plant was glowing. Suddenly something made my eyes come back to the girl in the middle of the strange meadow; she started to glow even brighter. Then her eyes opened, and her perfect eyes were the epicenter of the bright light. I almost couldn't look away, I didn't want to look away it was so captivating. But I suddenly felt my own eyes open and the beautiful picture in front of me vanished and was replaced with my bedroom. I had never realized how big my room was but now I could see that it was probably twice the size of a normal bedroom. Since Elizabeth and I share a room we had the construction workers bust down a wall to make the room big enough for us, we even had two bathrooms. Our room was painted blue, green, and silver in different murals and designs most were swirls and stripes. We each had a full sized bed an equal distance across the room from each other; mine had a baby blue and silver comforter with an intricate design. Elizabeth had a lime green and silver along with some white but the same pattern. My bathroom was green and white; Elizabeth had a blue and white bathroom to match. We each had a few shelves and bookcases (I have the most bookcases, I love to read) and on the big desk next to our balcony window was our big flat screen computer/ TV. For me it was way too extravagant because it reminded me of those rich snobs that lived next to us. To me it was mind-boggling how much I noticed in 5 seconds. And that was all before I noticed Elizabeth sitting on our couch in the corner.  
"I see you have woken up," she said casually from the couch. I looked over at her and she was intently watching me with a look of worry upon her face.  
"I was asleep?" I asked sounding muffled, I still wasn't sure that what I had seen was a dream. It was just so real.  
"You've been asleep for about 2 hours. We aren't due at Ravenwood for a few more hours so I packed some of your things already." She rambled while taking my temperature for the second time. She grabbed the thermometer out of my mouth and looked at it.  
"Well, you are back to normal now." Elizabeth said sounding a bit shocked. I looked out the window at the sky.  
"It was a dream?" I asked again. I couldn't get over the fact that it was all a dream. No way was it a dream; it was too real. Everything about it was absolutely real. Elizabeth looked at me with wide eyes.  
"What did you see Amanda?"

I turned my gaze back to my sister and flashed back to my dream.  
"A girl," I replied in a distant voice. She looked at me and raised her eyebrows. "Okay well I did see a girl but it was … unlike any dream I have ever had. It was so real. I started out running in the most beautiful forest I have ever seen. And then ended up in a meadow or pasture, I'm not sure what you would call it, but the meadow was glowing, I was glowing. And as soon as I saw the girl, I knew everything about her. I knew her name, and what her power was, and that she was my best friend."  
All Elizabeth could do was gawk at me. Before she could ask me anything else dad came into our room.  
"Mandy what are you still doing in bed? Come on you only have an hour and a half before you have to go to the boarding school." Dad had a special nickname for each of us; mine was "Mandy" or "Mandy May". Elizabeth's was "Liz". Anyway, Dad came in and dragged the bed spread off of me and pulled me off the bed.  
"Ha ha Dad I was up! See; I'm all dressed, you can't find any one who can get dressed faster than me!" I started to laugh and ran out of the way before Dad could grab me again. I stuck out my tongue and raced around both of them. An hour later we were all packed to go to our new and strange boarding school a half-hour away in Summerville, South Carolina.

**I make friends**

"Shut up and put your money where your mouth is ..." I was singing along to "Waking up is Vegas" by Katie Perry. My hand was out the window making waves as we passed by different scenery. I had on my Ray Ban sunglasses and was sitting in the front of our Mustang convertible. I had gotten a burgundy one with a white stripe on it for my birthday. Elizabeth was sitting in the passenger seat sticking her tongue out at me. I loved my car, not only because it was a Mustang, but also because it went FAST. I mostly preferred to run but when it came to cars, it had to go fast. I looked at the speedometer, 60-mph. That was only because there were cops around; I liked to go over 70. Even though I had just got my license a year ago to me it felt like running, second nature. Most parents would never let their kids do what we do, but then again we aren't ordinary kids. I turned up the radio and started to sing just a little bit louder.  
"Why don't you ever go and show somebody your talent?" Elizabeth asked from the other side of the car. She was referring to my singing talent. I was pretty good. I had a little country twang to my voice when I sang though. Elizabeth thought that I should "share my gift with the world". I through my car pillow at her and started to sing again. When the song was over, Elizabeth turned the radio channel to a Taylor Swift song, "Change" to be exact. I started to sing again, I knew all Taylor's recent songs. My favorite 3 was Hey Stephen, You Belong with Me, and Fearless (in that order). I looked in my rear view mirror to see if anyone was behind me. I absentmindedly ran my fingers through my hair and sped up. Suddenly my phone started to buzz and play "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw (Dad picked it out) and immediately knew who it was. I grabbed my phone and hit send.  
"Hey dad," I said into the phone.  
"Hey sweetheart, how is the road trip going?" he asked. I looked at Elizabeth and smiled.  
"It's going good, Dad. Elizabeth is still trying to get me to sing for a living though." I replied teasingly. I stared out past the windshield into the never-ending orange trees and hilltops.  
"Hey Dad I see the sign, I have to go." I told him as a big sign that said "Ravenwood" came in to view. He said goodbye and hung up. I looked at Elizabeth.  
"You ready?" I asked her rhetorically. She smiled and took a deep breath.  
"Not at all. Let's go." She sighed and smiled another big smile as I turned into the drive of our new home. When we pulled into the drive, and everybody in the parking lot looked at us. Not like a stuck up stare but more curious. I parked the car in our designated parking spot (there was a sign with our last name on it). We were right beside Liz's white corvette that we brought up yesterday. Next to her car was a black Mercedes Benz in front of the sign with the last name of "Myers" on it. Next to it had the same name but an empty parking space.  
"Hey, that is the name of the girl in my … dream." I commented struggling on "dream". I looked around some more and saw that next to the Mercedes was a midsized white Range Rover. And next to my space was a dodge Viper the color of the midnight sky and one of my favorite colors, blue. The names on both parking spaces were "Turner".  
"Who is that?" Liz was referring to the red flame colored Lexus LS 460 pulling into the space behind us. She was looking directly at the driver. He had light honey brown hair. His hair was both messy and curly but very cute. He had a tan complexion and from what I could tell grayish gold eyes. He looked right at Elizabeth and smiled. He had perfect pearly whites. Elizabeth blushed and smiled back.  
"That's Matthew Lee." A voice said from out my window. I looked around and jumped 2 feet in the air. There standing outside my car was the girl in my dream, only missing the glow and the blood on her face.  
"And you are?" Elizabeth asked her. I didn't look away from Julia and answered my sister.  
"That's Julia Myers," I replied. Julia looked at me and beamed, obviously pleased with something.  
"Yes, that's right. I'm your roommate. My sister is also your roommate." Julia kept smiling as she opened my car door and helped me out.

"Has anyone told you that you look kind of like Selena Gomez?" Elizabeth asked her teasing. She laughed but didn't answer.

"Elizabeth!" I yelled as I slapped her in the arm.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look kind of like Taylor Swift?" Julia asked me. I laughed and Elizabeth almost jumped up and down.

"I always tell her that!" Liz screamed, while trying to hold back laughter. I rolled my eyes.  
"This is my best friend," I said breathless as we finally got focused again. Julia looked from me to Elizabeth and just shook her head yes. I gave her a big hug, and turned around to look at the car behind us. More people had come behind us to form a group. I recognized the guy Julia called Matthew, but one boy caught my eye and held it for a long time.  
"Amanda, are you broken?" Elizabeth was laughing while trying to get me to look at her for the 4th time in the last 5 minutes.  
"Oh, I see who she sees, that is Conner Andrew Turner. He has the parking space next to her. He is my boyfriend, William Blake Turner's cousin. He is single right now if you are interested." Julia told Elizabeth but the last part was directed at me in a teasing voice. Julia seemed to know everyone around here. The guy I was looking at was the most beautiful person ever. He looked like an angel. He had wavy black hair and dark blue eyes, almost the color of his car but much prettier. He was about 5'7 and had a little bit of muscles. He reminded me of the guy in Taylor swift's video for her song "Love Story". He was wearing a Carolina gamecock T-shirt and khaki shorts. He started to laugh and I almost couldn't breathe, he had the most musical, entrancing laugh. And his teeth were perfect. I suddenly thought that maybe I was being a little biased. I looked to the guy next to him and realized that he must be William, or "Will" as Julia call him. He had dark brown almost black hair that was straight but wavy at the same time. He was about 6 foot with a strong stature. Will had hazel eyes that looked mocha with a tint of gold today. He was wearing a green and white shirt with the identical khaki pants as Conner. His shirt brought out his eyes, I noticed. They were all leaning against the Lexus now and laughing about something. I felt something tugging on my arm and had to turn to see what it was.  
"Come on, I think we have seen enough guys for one day. Let's get your stuff settled in." It was Julia that brought me out of my trance. She was leading us with our entire luggage to the huge building in front of us. I took one last look around and saw the most expensive looking Porsche I have ever seen pulling into the space beside the Lexus. It was silver and had white and pink stripes fluttering about in the paint design. Out came the snootiest looking girl I have ever seen. She had highlighted blonde hair (you could see some of her dark roots) and looked like she was trying too hard when it came to make up. Her eyes were gray, I could tell from where I'm standing. She had on a really short mini skirt and tight pink top. Her sunglasses had the symbol for Gucci. She was carrying a coach handbag and wearing a diamond necklace. She walked right over to the boys and started to hug on Matthew. I looked over at Elizabeth and she just looked away from them.  
"So, who is that?" she asked in a small voice. Julia looked at the girl and stuck up her nose.  
"That is Madison Paige Woods. Stupid IT girl. She is the snobby rich girl here that everybody hates but wants to be. She is ruining Matthew, they have been going out, but she controls everything. She is a … brat and she knows it." Julia was now glaring at Madison, but Madison was too involved with the boys to notice. I looked at the hurt feeling on both of the special people beside me and smirked.  
"Do you want to see some of my powers?" I asked them smiling. Julia nodded and Elizabeth smiled. "Wind" I whispered loud enough for them to hear. I pointed to Madison. She was caught in a vortex of wind, her hair flying everywhere and her purse flew over and landed in my hands. Her sunglasses flew off and landed on the hood of her car.  
"Water" I whispered again. The vortex slowly faded away and she was covered in water. She looked around and screamed.  
"Who did that?" she yelled looking around. I looked at Elizabeth and smiled. I ran over to Madison and was there before she had turned around.  
"Hey. Is this yours?" I asked her. She turned around and jumped. "Wind" I whispered, her purse started to float around me and I couldn't help but laugh. Matthew, Conner, and William were all laughing. She glared at me and grabbed her purse.  
"So, did you do this?" she started to look me up and down, making up insults no doubt. I smiled innocently.  
"No, your purse just flew over to me. I bet the person who did this is incredible though." I flicked my finger and a sphere of wind appeared in my hand. "I'm Amanda Bennett by the way." I turned to Conner and smiled and winked at him. Madison sounded like she was going to explode but I was gone before she could even blink.

When I returned to Elizabeth and Julia, they were both almost lying on the ground laughing. I turned around just one more time, and Madison was glaring at me.

"I haven't seen anyone do that since 7th grade. Jenna Carter. And the only reason she did it was because Madison bullied her and said Jenna didn't even have any powers," Julia informed me. When I turned around I saw Madison wasn't the only one looking at me. Conner had a devilish smile on his face as he gazed in my direction. I heard a cracking sound and looked at Madison; she was crushing her Gucci sunglasses without even realizing it, somehow I found that satisfying.

**Welcome home**

I finally turned my back on the scene in the parking lot and followed Julia to the dorm. Our dorm was in building A, which was absolutely huge. There were about 12 dorms per building and about 6 buildings. I noticed that the plaque on our building said "girls". When we opened the door it opened up into a common room, it was huge! There were about 5 computers scattered around the room and one 46' inch TV. Not only were there 3 huge leather sofas but also 10 assorted-colored beanbag chairs. I noticed a juice/ snack bar in the corner of the room. The whole room was painted a bright blue with different murals and design in many different colors on every wall.  
"This is the Faure, or basically common room. Every dorm has a TV, computer, and fridge, Oh, also a microwave." Julia said while guiding us along. Suddenly a girl that looked almost just like her, only maybe a year younger came over to us.  
"Are these the ones?" she asked Julia. Julia smiled and nodded. She turned to us.  
"This is my sister, Alexis Hope Myers. She will be living with you, Liz. Or at least share the same bedroom as you." she turned to Alexis. "This is Amanda Marie Bennett and her sister Elizabeth Taylor Bennett. You can probably get away with Mandy or Liz though." she smiled as we shook hands and hugged. I felt like I had known them all my life rather than 20 minutes. I took a better look at Alexis and realized that both her and her sister had the same hazel green eyes. She had almost the same color black hair as Conner, but hers was down to her shoulders and the total opposite of her sister's curly hair. Alexis and Elizabeth seemed to act like old friends or something. They were inseparable.

After about 20 minutes talking with the girls in the common room, Lex and Jules (Julia's nickname) showed us our dorm. We walked down the hall and stopped in front of a door with "Amanda, Julia, Elizabeth, and Alexis" painted all over the door. First they were in big bright colored letters in the middle of the door, and there were also mini names all over the door. It was pretty cool looking. I looked at Alexis and she nodded. I reached out and grabbed the door handle. I pushed the door open and peered into the room. The living room was as big as maybe two living rooms. There was a 32' inch flat screen sitting on a mahogany wood entertainment center. In the middle of the room were two sofas, one blue and the other lilac suede. 4 beanbag chairs were scattered around the big room. The floors opened up to a sea blue color with the walls a nice neutral brown. I personally did not agree with the floor color. There was a huge old-time blue fridge in the corner next to the computer desk with a microwave on top. I looked across from the desk and out the window and saw a huge field with guys throwing footballs. I dropped my bags and slowly walked to the window. I was looking past the guys and the people with dogs at the woods. They were the exact woods as in my dream, except they had all of their leaves. I heard a whistle coming from below the window. I looked down and saw Conner waving from below. I smiled and waved back, looking for anyone else. All the guys were yelling at him to bring the ball back to the game that he had in his hands. He turned around and yelled something back, but immediately gazed back at me. I looked at the girls looking over my shoulders and they all raised their eyes at me.  
"Hey," he yelled up to me. I laughed and looked back down.  
"Hey," I called back.  
"Conner right?" I asked smiling still.  
"Yep, Conner Turner at your service." He replied bowing and dropping the football.  
"I'll remember that." I said while laughing in a teasing voice. I looked back at Julia who was still sitting in the chair beside me and stuck out my tongue.  
"Amanda, right?" he asked ignoring the yelling behind him. I could feel the color come to my cheeks.  
"You can call me Mandy," I replied. He finally responded to the yelling by throwing the ball and hitting the loudest one, Matthew in the gut. Yet still he stayed planted under our living room window.  
"Mandy? I'll remember that." He said more serious than I was but still teasing. He smiled a breath taking smile and winked, and then he disappeared. I finally met my match, he ran as fast as I did. That must have been his power or one of them. When I finally found him again he was back in the football game. He saw me looking and smiled the same smile that took my breath away and still managed to catch the football without looking. I begrudgingly looked away and decided it was time to face the girls.  
"That was so sweet that nothing could ever be as sweet." Julia said as I looked at her and flashed my pearly whites. Elizabeth was gawking at me while Alexis who was sitting next to her was almost crying.  
"Wow is all I can say." She said still looking shocked. Julia looked at me and made a pout face.  
"William never did anything like that for me." She said while looking out the window at her "man" throwing the football. She sighed and looked back at me. "Lucky."  
"I love this school." I breathed looking at the ceiling. I heard a lot of laughter but never looked around to see who it was.  
"OK time to see your room." Julia finally said. She pointed towards the two doors across from the window. On one door was a sign that said "Mandy & Julia" the other said "Elizabeth & Alexis". Our sign was in purple and theirs' was in blue. Julia led me and Alexis led Elizabeth. Julia opened the door to a purple room that was in-between lilac and a medium purple color with one blue wall with a window. The bedding was purple and blue. The sheets were a pretty teal color and the comforter was a deep purple with blue flowers on it. We each had a full sized bed that was next to each other. Mine was nearest the window. The beds had intricate white headboards and there was a big white desk on the wall. In between the beds was a medium sized nightstand big enough for the both of us. On the walls was some of my photography. For example some of the scenery pieces and some pictures of Elizabeth from far away so you could also see the scenery, but there were also pictures of Julia on the walls as well. There was a big mural on the back wall of a crescent moon design. It was white and had a lot of blue detail around it. I thought it was beautiful. I took a closer look and saw Alexis's signature meaning that she painted it, I was very impressed. I looked at Julia.  
"Wow, it's perfect. I love the mural." I said pointing to it. She just smiled. I went over to the big window and took a seat on the light purple and blue window seat. I looked out the window and saw that the guys had stopped playing football and were heading to their dorm. William waved to Julia and Conner turned around to see who it was. He smiled and waved, and I waved back. Matthew waved to somebody too. I looked to the next window and saw Elizabeth. She was beaming at Matthew. I knew something was there between them. So for that one moment the universe was in check. If only it were more than a moment.  
When we finally made it to bed after everything was settled it was about 11:00 p.m. I looked at the clock on the nightstand to make sure, 11:15 p.m. I was lying in my bed looking at all the stuff we put up in so little time. There was a 3-foot tall bulletin board on one wall, and a lot of pictures of us on it. All 4 of us did up the bathroom. It was a … well it was one bathroom that both bedrooms connected to. It was huge though. There were two showers and two bathtubs. Also three sinks with one huge mirror and counter. We did the design French style. There was already wallpaper on the wall with the Eiffel tower and "Paris" on it, so we added a bunch of matching accessories. A lot happened in one day. I got into a "fight" with the stuck up girl, I met a guy, and we still had time to fix up the dorm. After a lot of thinking I redirected my gaze to out the window. I just stared up at the stars, and that worked because the next thing I remember was the clock waking me up.

**The girls win**

"Beep, beep." I lifted up my head enough to see the time on the clock, 8:30 am. "Ugh." I slapped my hand down on the snooze. It didn't break. That woke me up. I looked at the clock and it was made out of steel and painted to look plastic or something. I looked over at Julia and she was laughing.  
"That's what I thought at first too. It's reinforced so we don't break it. Trust me it saves a lot of clocks." Julia was heading into the bathroom. I followed her and found both showers free; which meant either the other girls have not woken up yet or they were already awake. I grabbed a towel from the cupboard and walked over to a shower. I jumped in and turned on the hot water trying to sooth my muscles. After about 15 minutes I was fully washed and out of the shower. I put on my robe and walked into one of the two walk-in closets. I looked through the racks of clothes and found some faded jeans and a T-shirt. I decided to go bare foot because I wanted to do some running, so I walked into the other closet, which we used for accessories. I found a necklace that accented my "nothing is impossible" T-shirt nicely. I walked out and decided it was time for Elizabeth to wake up. I opened their door and grabbed a pillow from the big blue moon chair by the door. I was awed by the amount of artwork on their walls. There was a big mural of a white tree that covered two walls. Their walls were a baby blue and the bedding was blue and brown with flowers and stripes. I looked at Elizabeth still under her covers and threw the pillow. She lifted her head and stuck her tongue out. She held out her hand and a pillow materialized. She threw it and it hit me dead in the face.  
"Wind." I whispered and her comforter flew off of her. I pointed to the clock and she sighed. She headed for the bathroom and I followed. I grabbed the hair dryer as she got into the shower. After 10 minutes my hair was dry, but still wavy and curly, so I fixed it so that it wasn't so puffy. I walked back into my room and sat on the window seat again. I looked outside and saw the sunshine, which was all I needed.  
"I'll be outside!" I screamed as I ran out the door. I heard a faint "ok" but I was gone before I could hear anything else. I was on the first floor and out the door in less than a minute. I walked to the edge of the field and looked around. No one was … well anywhere. I looked at my phone, 9:30 am. I inhaled the fresh air and fell down in the grass. I looked up at the sky and started to make up shapes in the clouds.  
"So, do you like the outdoors?" Conner sat down beside me and looked me in the eyes.  
"Yeah, I like it the best when the sun is shining. But mostly I like to run." I replied avoiding his interrogation. He smirked and laughed at something.  
"Do you want to race me?" he asked half way on his feet. I looked at him and raised my eyes.  
"I doubt you will win, but you can try your luck." I said taking his hand as he offered to help me up. He pointed his hand and a line of red flowers appeared in the ground.  
"Ok, this is the starting line." He said smiling. I got into my crouch position and he was right there with me. I smiled and winked at him as he yelled go. I shot across the ground, still barefoot but the ground felt like a cloud. I looked behind me and saw Conner about half a foot behind me. I ran as fast as I could; missing every tree that came in front of me. I could hear Conner breathe behind me but he never came into view. We came to a small clearing and a line of red flowers shot out of the ground. I raced across it in victory, but stumbled on a boulder. I turned my head nearly missing another huge rock and felt very strong hands gripping my waist.  
"I thought you were supposed to be the graceful one." Conner said laughing as he held my waist. I looked at the ground, seeing as he held my head a foot from the ground. I turned back to him and smiled, "So William and I were wondering if you and Julia would like to play some football."  
I looked at him thoughtfully.  
"Well, you can try your luck at that too. I'm in, and I know that Julia wouldn't miss it." I replied still being held over a rock. I grabbed his hand and used it to pull myself up. Conner started laughing and sat down on the rock.  
"You said that you liked it when the sun shined, is that the only time you like being outside?" He asked smirking. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows. "What are you getting at?" I asked interrogating him instead this time. He raised his hand and it started to rain. No clouds, sunshine, no thunder, nothing. I looked at the sky and smiled. I loved the rain. The rain and sunshine were my favorite weather. I stood up and started to spin.  
"I love the rain too. How did you know?" I asked him. I heard no answer. I turned around and he was gone. Conner was gone; he had a nasty habit of disappearing. "Ugh!" I yelled in annoyance. I heard his faint laugh but couldn't see anyone. I ran back to the field and found Julia sitting in the grass.  
"So, did Conner tell you we were playing football later?" she asked. I smiled at the memory and nodded.  
"He is so…. "I couldn't finish my sentence because I couldn't think of anything that would do him justice. Instead I sat in the grass for an hour looking at the sky. It had stopped raining as soon as Conner left and I was dry as soon as the rain stopped. This school was definitely not ordinary. And I still had so much to learn.  
"Hey, Bella? Are you coming?" William called to me from the middle of the field. I looked up and saw Julia talking to him and Conner throwing the football to himself. I was up and over there in less than 10 seconds. I ran in front of Conner and caught the football before he could and ran back to Julia. I couldn't help but let my musical laugh come out. He playfully made the motion for "I've got my eyes on you" and went to stand by William. I threw the ball to Julia and she caught it behind her back.  
"Wow, nice catch." I called to her as I sauntered over. She gave me thumbs up.  
"Oh! Wait a sec." I called to Julia and the guys. I walked to Elizabeth's window and whispered "earth." And a rock appeared in my hand. I threw it and it made a loud "whack," But did not break the window.  
"What!" Elizabeth said opening the window. I smiled and told her about the football game. "Ha, I have to see this."  
"So can you throw down my Etnies?" I asked her not wanting to hurt myself. She walked out of view and then came back with my blue and white tennis shoes. She threw them down out the window and stayed sitting on her moon chair. I quickly put on the shoes and turned around. On the ground were my footprints in blue flowers, my exact feet. I looked up and stuck out my tongue. I ran back to Julia and asked her the game plan.  
"Well, William and Conner are our biggest threat, William's power is flying but I think I can make you a path to the end zone. We also need to watch out for Nature boy. But you are our greatest advantage. So we need to take advantage of both our strengths and use them to the limit." She said pointing out every power the boys had. I suddenly remembered her other powers, invisibility and zapping. We would so win.  
"Ok, I got it. So their ball first?" I asked looking over at the guys' little two- man huddle.  
"Yeah. So I'll go for Conner and you go for William." She said smiling at the thought. She took something out of her pocket and handed it to me, Shoe polish. She put some on her fingers and rubbed it under her eyes.  
"Haha. So are we going to look like real football players?" I asked teasingly. She smiled and nodded. I took some on my fingers and put it under my eyes. I put my hair up in a ponytail. I looked over to Elizabeth and realized that a crowd had grown on the sidelines. I smiled at the thought of the boys being beaten by girls in front of people.  
"You guys ready?" I heard Conner yell. I turned around and nodded. We all gathered at the middle of the field.  
"Down, set hike!" William screamed. Conner headed straight for me as William took to the skies. Out of nowhere Julia appeared in front of him and knocked him off course. I looked for William and found him halfway to the end zone.  
"Wind." I whispered and a sphere of wind captured him and the ball landed in my hands. With both boys rather involved with other activities I raced to the end zone and heard someone in the crowd scream "touch down!"  
I turned to Julia and slapped her high five. I turned to the boys and William was still stuck in my vortex. I raised my hand and he slowly lowered to the ground.  
"Elizabeth!" I screamed and a scoreboard appeared on the side of our dorm. One side said girls and the other said boys. The girls' side had 6 points.  
"Ok our ball now, I'll go for both to give you a clear path." I said eyeing both boys. I put out my hand and she did our hand shake smiling. Conner called us over to the middle again and we got in our positions.  
"Ok, down set, Hike!" Julia screamed throwing me the ball. "Water" I whispered and William slipped in mud in the grass while trying to catch Julia. I threw her the ball just as Conner playfully pounced and tackled me.  
"Gotcha," he whispered in my ear. Someone again yelled "touchdown" from the crowd.  
"Looks like your losing." I whispered back. All he did was laugh.  
"A hum hum," a voice came from next to us. I looked up and it was Madison.  
"Can I help you?" Conner asked her coldly. She rolled her eyes and looked at the crowd.  
"Have you love birds seen Matthew?" she asked still looking at the crowd. I could feel myself blush when she said that word.  
"No actually." Conner replied just as cold. I looked at his face and he smiled at me.  
"Why do you care?" I asked her sarcastically. She made a face like no one had ever talked to her like that. "Not only were us "love birds" in the middle of a football game, but we don't want to talk to you."  
I flicked my hand and she was being pushed by the wind into the crowd. One more flick and she disappeared. I looked at Conner and he looked like he was trying to hold back laughter.  
"Come on my little "love bird"." Conner teased. He held out his hand and I took it. He pulled me up and had me to the middle of the field in a flash. The game ended with us girls winning by a field goal that Julia kicked, it amazed me how she was able to make a goal from all the way on the other side of the field. The boys had 18 points and we had 21. We never saw Madison again during the game or Matthew for that matter. At the end of the game Conner and William walked over to us.  
"You guys have a pretty good game." William commented.  
"Imagine that, the cheerleader can beat the quarter back at his own game!" Julia said punching William in the arm. William pulled Julia into his arms and kissed her lightly on the lips before walking away with her.  
"Nice game, Mandy." Conner said walking next to me.  
"That was rather embarrassing when Madison said that." I thought out loud quietly.  
"I don't think so; I was able to give you a nickname now." He said laughing. I smiled at the thought. He walked me to the door of the dorm and grabbed my hand. "Sleep well, love bird." That was all I heard because he left before I turned around. I walked into the common room and headed for the snack bar. After the game not much went on. For a month when I saw Conner all we did was say hi or smile that breath-taking smile. Then school was ready to start. School started in a week so we decided that we better have all the fun we can while we still could. One day … I believe it was a Tuesday, Conner decided to talk to me again.  
"Hey, love bird." Conner called from below my window again. I looked out and smiled.  
"Are you talking to me again?" I asked sarcastically. He rolled his eyes. I rolled mine, mocking him. "So, was there something you wanted?"  
"Umm… yeah, you know that dance coming up right?" he asked looking kind of nervous. I looked at the school calendar and the fall ball was October 10th.  
"Yeah," I answered knowing his question.  
"So, Mandy, do you want to go with me?" he asked not looking at my face.  
"Of course" I answered a little too quickly. He looked up and smiled my favorite smile.  
"See you around…" he said as he walked away. I heard him use my full name "Amanda" as he was almost out of earshot.

**I fight the IT girl**

I looked at Alexis because she was the only one in the dorm.

"So lucky!" she said with misty eyes. I laughed and turned on the TV. I kept flipping channels till we came to the movie "prom night". After about an hour we got very bored.  
"So do you know what dress you're wearing?" Alexis asked me. I looked at the calendar and the dance was over a month away.  
"Do we have to think about it so soon?" I asked her. She nodded and got my laptop from the desk. We looked at dresses for 2 hours before I found one that I liked. Alexis tried to get me to go to the store and try it on, but I want to surprise everybody with what I wear. So that meant no going to Elizabeth and that also meant I had to spend a lot of money. I walked into my room with my laptop and searched dresses all over again. And then … I found it. It was midnight blue and looked almost like a Greek goddess' dress but a little bit puffier. The hemline came to just under the bust and was a gem flower line going all the way around the gown. The gown it's self was chiffon silk. It was all the way down to my feet. The silk bunched up in the back forming a delicate train. It was rather simple but very elegant, and I loved it. Well… That took care of my dress. I put my laptop on my bed and walked out of the room. Julia and Alexis were still talking on our couch. I told them I was going outside to soak up some vitamin D. I walked out the door and walked right into Elizabeth.  
"Hey sis." She said turning around and walking with me. We walked to the bench at the edge of the big field. We sat down and watched all the playing in the field. There were a bunch of dogs catching Frisbees and guys playing baseball. I looked at her at the same time she looked at me and we both started to laugh.

"Ugh, I can't believe summer is almost over." I said sighing. She nodded and put her arms around me, pulling me into a sister hug. We started to laugh all over again. "It feels like summer should have just started. I mean I love this school and wish we had more time to have fun before actual school starts!" she said looking at the sun. I nodded and watched a guy named Justin Williams hit the baseball into the woods. He ran the bases and was back at home base before Matthew (he is in every sports game!) could run and go get the ball. One of the Frisbees hit Matthew in the gut and caused him to slide into the 3rd baseman. I looked at Elizabeth and started to laugh. I laughed so hard I could feel my face turn the color of tomatoes, I just couldn't stop. Suddenly both Elizabeth and I were looking at Matthew in front of us.  
"So you think that was funny?" Matthew asked teasing. We both started to laugh again while nodding. He grabbed Elizabeth around the waist and started to tickle her. "Is it funny now?" he asked laughing while she tried to tickle him back.  
"No matter what you do, it was hilarious!" I replied giggling. Elizabeth nodded. I felt an arm around me. I was being cradle like a baby by Conner. I looked down at Elizabeth and Matthew and it was like I hadn't even left. He was still tickling her. I looked at Conner and started to laugh. He rolled his eyes and started to walk with me still in his arms.  
"Are you having hysteria Bella?" he asked raising his eyebrows. I took a deep breath and shook my head.  
"No, I'm good now. So … Where exactly are we going?" I asked looking around. He looked at me and smiled. I looked at him for like five minutes till I realized I was staring at him like an idiot.  
"Well, we are going to a little pasture that I know." He said smiling. Suddenly I flashed back to the meadow that we ended the race in. I looked around and we were already there.  
"Did you run?" I asked. He smiled and nodded. I hadn't even noticed I had been staring at him the whole time. It would be so embarrassing if he knew that. He sat down on a rock, still holding me. I could feel the color come to my cheeks. He put my feet down and set the rest of me on the closest rock. I leaned in and hugged his chest. I could feel his face in my hair. I felt my pocket vibrate, I tried to ignore it but finally I had to answer. I looked at the caller I.D. and it was Julia.  
"What a way to ruin a moment," I whispered sighing. I could hear Conner's soft laughter.  
"Answer it," he whispered in my ear. I sighed again and hit send.  
"Yeah Jules?" I asked.  
"We have a problem," she replied. It turns out that Madison caught (the operative word) Elizabeth and Matthew. He was still tickling her when Madison showed up. Now I know what Madison power is, telekinesis. It turns out that the Hag (our pet name for Madison) trapped Elizabeth to the bench. Here is EXACTLY what happened: after Jules called me, Conner grabbed my hand and started to almost drag me rather than me run beside him to the field. We started to slow when we got near the field. Right before the trees disappeared and the field started was a shield. Conner started to fast walk to the edge of the clearing and ran right into nothing. He just rebounded back 100 feet. I ran as fast as I could to make sure nothing happened to him. I caught the top half of him as he descended to the ground. When I caught him I held on to him as tight as I could. He stood up and pulled me into the tightest bear hug ever. He lifted my chin to look me in the eyes, and then he brushed my cheek with his hands. I turned my head to where my sister was. He picked up my feet and carried me to the shield. I touched it and it felt like a wall.  
"I think I might be able to counteract it," I said he looked thoughtful for a few seconds. Then he nodded.  
"I have to go, I know Matthew, and he is probably very worried. She blocked him from the shield as well." He whispered. "Be careful Isabella, Madison is one of the most powerful students we have here, not many people stand up to her… if their smart." Before I could walk away he grabbed my hand and pulled me into a tight embrace, and then he lightly placed his lips to mine. It felt like there were butterflies in my stomach, and I could tell my face flushed. He finally pulled away and caressed my cheek with his hand, and I couldn't help but smile like a complete idiot, which made him laugh. I reached up on my tippy toes and kissed him again; he stroked my hair with his free hand as mine snaked up around his neck. Suddenly he pulled away slightly and looked at me and smiled. He pulled me into a tight hug and kissed my head. "Be safe, Love bird," he took one last look at me and ran the opposite way.  
"Earth," I whispered. I pointed my hand at the shield and struggled like I was lifting a car. A crack appeared in the shield and it parted about a couple of yards. I darted through and let the wall close, lifting a weight off of my shoulders. I walked into the clearing and saw a nightmare. Madison was pointing right at Elizabeth who was bleeding in the face and strapped to the bench by chains. I knew Elizabeth must have fought back hard because Madison was limping and had cuts all over her. She was still trying to fight back when she finally saw me, "Isabella ... Go... don't let her hurt you, I can take care of her!"

I just shook my head. Madison started to advance her but Elizabeth blocked her blow with a brick wall. _That's my girl_, I thought. She glanced back at me, big mistake. Madison took advantage of this and suddenly the trashcan nearest her slammed into Elizabeth's body, making her faint. I then noticed that Julia was trapped against the wall by rope and Alexis was trapped in our dorm by a closed window.  
"Madison!" I screamed in rage. I was all at once very unsure about going up against Madison alone, Elizabeth was always my support, I may have been more powerful than her, but Lizzie was stronger and more confident than I was. Madison turned toward me and sneered. I then realized that I had no choice, my friends were counting on me. "Wind," I whispered. A big force field of wind closed in around Madison. I said all of the elements names in my head and water, fire, and earth added to the shield. "Let her go!" I screamed at her. She struggled but shook her head no. I pointed my hand at her and water soaked her, she started to shiver. I could feel the fire burn her and the ropes on Julia tightened. I raised my eyebrows daring her to try anything else. My sister fell to the ground when the chains came off. Somehow I knew the shield was still intact. I dropped my force field anyway. She stood up and looked at me and glared.  
"I always knew you were a goody-two-shoes from the first time I met you. You're just a brat, who is trying to take over my school. Nobody EVER beats me." She all but screamed at me. "I know I can beat you at your own game."  
Suddenly Madison morphed into … well … ME! Then I heard his voice, I turned around and realized that the shield moved up so we had an audience. The shield stopped right when the trees met the field. Conner was beating and trying everything to get through the invisible wall. I turned around to face her and was thrown right in front of Conner and the head mistress. She had blocked everyone out except for me and my roommates. I put my hand in the exact place Conner had his and then turned around.  
"You may be an evil conniving little hag, but never will you beat me at MY game." I said as a bubble of fire appeared around me. I could feel her try to penetrate it but it was no use. Before I could do anything my bubble disappeared. I could feel the wind she threw at me pierce my face, and something stung under my eye, on my cheek. A rock appeared in my hand and I threw it with almost all of my force. It hit her straight in the gut, which forced her to change back into herself. I diced her with water again and she was so mad that it looked like she might explode.  
"Leave us alone, from now on!" I whispered loud enough for her to hear. She grabbed the chains that imprisoned my sister and used them like a whip. I missed the first swing but on the second one she barely nailed me in the face. It didn't hurt but I could feel it puff up. I gave her one final blow, using all of the elements; she hit the dorm and fell to the ground. I could feel the shield as it lifted.  
"Oh my god, are you ok?" Conner asked catching me as I fell to the ground. Matthew ran straight to Elizabeth. Julia ran to my side after William untied her and checked out my cuts and bruises. Alexis ran to Elizabeth after Justin and the Dean of the school got her out of our trapped dorm room. I tried to walk over to her and check on her myself but I couldn't get my feet to work. The last thing I saw was Conner kissing my head and hand while carrying me and Julia tagging along trying to check on all of me to make sure I was ok. I looked for Madison but she was not where I had last seen her.

"Elizabeth" I managed in a whisper. Then my vision went black

**I open my eyes and see the light**.

When I opened my eyes Julia was staring me in the face. At first I thought it was another dream but she was so real and she was crying so I knew it was her. I was lying in my bed in my blue plaid pajamas. Somehow I felt fresh and showered; my hair was not greasy but very soft. I tried to sit up but immediately felt woozy. I laid my head back on the pillow and looked at our flat screen. Julia was watching the top 20 video countdown. I looked over at her and she gasped.  
"Do I look that bad?" I teased in a small voice. I could see the moisture in her eyes.  
"No you look beautiful," she whispered. I smiled warily and looked at the clock.  
"It's September 4?" I half screamed. School started 3 days ago. "How long was I out?"  
She looked away for about a millisecond and looked back, "Almost a full week."  
I gasped and looked back at the clock. It said 1:00. I looked around and there were some books in the chair nearest me and a lot of notes.  
"Was there somebody else here?" I asked curious. She nodded, and then I remembered. "Oh my god, where is Elizabeth? Why isn't she here?"  
"She is in class right now, we have been taking turns watching you this week, we can't miss ALL of the first week of school. Besides she was here with you almost all week. She fully recovered yesterday, she had a nasty cut on her head but it healed."

She smiled and held up my arm, it was heavily bandaged, "Though I can't say the same for you."

I laughed, but it hurt my ribs. The door to our room opened and Conner was at my side in an instant.  
"I see sleeping beauty woke up." He teased. I grimaced thinking how my complexion and reflection must look. He held my hand and smiled, I almost stopped breathing, "Breath, honey."

I felt my face flush as he caught me. I looked at Julia and she smiled, "I'm going to check on Stella." I looked at her and flashed a confused look at both of them. They just smiled.  
When Julia shut the door, Conner turned his breathtaking eyes back on me.  
"I lost you for 6 days." He teased.  
"I wasn't lost though, I was right here." I replied. He shook his head and laughed.  
"The first 3 days they kept you in the infirmary and the last 3 days were just plain torture sitting here watching you, hoping you would open your eyes and talk to me. The nurse almost banned me from seeing you because you were supposedly unstable!" he told me almost thoughtful. I blushed and reached out to kiss him, but fell back again.  
"I'm not liking being sick," I said pouting. He laughed and rested his lips on mine. I almost forgot to breath but when he caught on he lifted his head. "Wait, what if I'm not done yet?" I asked grabbing his hand. He laughed and quickly kissed me again. I smiled and refused to let go of his hand.  
"You can't have missed me that bad." I asked him. He smirked and turned his head away.

"Yes I did. I had no one to race, no one to carry around, and no one to talk to." He trailed off in a whisper.

"Psh, whatever, you had Mathew, and William and that Justin kid that you hang around a lot." I fired back. He just shook his head

"They weren't you." He held out his hand a pink rose appeared. He held it out to me. He smiled my smile and squeezed my hand. I laughed and flicked my finger. The door opened and Julia fell on her face and looked at me.

"That was so sweet!" she said with tears in her eyes. She stood up and ran to hug me. I laughed and she whispered something in my ear. "He is a keeper."

She made me laugh all over again even though it was true. Julia stayed in the front room for most of the afternoon, letting Conner stay with me. I love her for that. At about 4:00 she came in our room and found me watching Survivor Man and Conner sleeping in the chair. I smiled at her as she walked in; she came and sat on the bed with me.  
"I missed you Mandy." She whispered. I looked at her and she was almost crying. "I love you and the doctor told us it might be more than 2 weeks before you woke up."

I looked at her and silent tears were rolling down her face. We talked until about 6:30 or until her phone buzzed. "But I do love you" by Leann Rimes started to play and we both knew who it was.  
"Will," we both said at the same time. We looked at each other and started to laugh. While she looked at the text 3 little dogs scurried into the room and jumped on my bed.

"Who are they?" I asked laughing as the West Highland Terrier licked my face. There was a white and tan westie, a black and gold yorkie, and a white Maltese. There was a lime green collar on the Maltese, a purple collar on the yorkie and a blue collar on the westie. All of them were just puppies.

"This is my yorkie Izzy, Lex's Maltese Ayla, and your westie-poo Stella." She said pointing them out. I had always wanted a dog but never got one. Stella could not stop licking me and when she stopped she just moved on to Conner.

"Hey! Stella … come on stop." He said picking her up. He never let go of my hand I noticed. He handed her back to me and I took a good look at her. She had light blue eyes and they stood out on her brown and blonde fur. I also noticed in the corner 2 beds, one was blue and said "Stella" and the other said "Izzy".

"What did William want?" I asked her. She blushed and started to pet Izzy.

"He wanted to go out tonight," Julia replied sheepishly. "But if you want me to stay here with you I can."  
I shook my head "No you should go, have fun." She just nodded. "How much trouble can I get in with Conner and Elizabeth AND Alexis around?"

"Do you want me to answer that question?" she asked teasing. I playfully kicked her off the bed and urged her to go. She walked into the bathroom with Izzy following her. I looked at Conner and he was holding back laughter.

"What?" I asked him confused.

"I'm just thinking about all the trouble you could get into," he replied still laughing. I rolled my eyes and hit him in the gut.

"Help me up, will yah?" I asked trying to sit up. Before I could fall back down, Conner had me in his arms heading out of my room into the living room. He sat down on the couch but would not let me go. "I'm not going to die you know." He raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Yes you could, I'm holding a very delicate, beautiful, and special person in my hands." He joked. He threw me in the air and caught me without hurting any part of me.

"A person could get used to this." I told him.

"Me throwing you in the air?" he asked me.

"No! This, you holding me," I told him hugging him tighter. Suddenly we were not alone. Stella jumped in between Conner and me and started to lick my face. "Ugh, Stella!" I whined. Conner started to laugh and set me down on the couch. I pouted.  
"Oh, what's wrong with my Love bird?" Conner asked kissing me on the cheek. I grabbed his face and made him look me in the eyes.  
"You're so mean." I told him. Once again we were interrupted by a dog but not my dog, it was Izzy.  
"If you 2 weren't so cute you would be annoying." Julia said heading for the door. "Ok, I have my cell so just call if you need anything. Elizabeth and Lex should be home in about an hour, they have a project to work on."

She waved and then walked out the door. One thing I noticed was her outfit. She was wearing a really sexy red, silk top, her best skinny, jeans and her 3 inch high, stilettos that I helped pick out. She had perfected her curls and added a ruby, red, butterfly clip to accent her shirt. She had put on a touch of blush and a nude lip gloss. She looked like she had just walked out of a magazine. She left right after she grabbed her solid, black clutch that held her keys, cell phone, and a little bit of extra make-up, not that she would need it.

"Wow, William is lucky." I said finally looking away from the door. I could feel Conner nod beside me. "I bet I look 10 times worse than that."  
I got up to get something to drink from our fridge but was suddenly pulled to the mirror hanging in the hallway.

"Does that girl look 10 times worse to you?" Conner asked me.

The girl in the mirror looked nothing like me, I thought at least. My hair was in big soft curls that looked almost like Erin's but different; it still had the same golden bronze color. My eyes, which were most noticeable, were still blue but more gold today. My tan complexion was almost back to normal, except for the puffy cut under my right eye. My left arm was heavily bandaged towards my shoulder from where I was thrown against the shield. My bottom lip was the slightest bit swollen but it was hard to notice. Compared to what I felt like after the fight happened I would say I looked good. I smiled at Conner in the mirror and once again headed for the fridge. There was some strawberry Yoplait yogurt, a pack of coke, milk, and A LOT of chocolate. I grabbed a coke and looked for the pudding Erin told me she bought; all I could find was bottles of water, and some type of leftovers. I noticed as I sat down on the couch that it did not hurt to walk like it did earlier today. I opened my drink and took a sip. I heard a phone buzz and the song "Light On" by David Cook.

"Who is that?" I asked him, but he just took a quick look at the caller I.D. and then put it back in his pocket. I immediately got on my guard and got suspicious. After about 5 minutes another text message came and that same song played. Once again he wouldn't tell me who it was. At 7:15 he looked at the clock and sighed, although he seemed anxious.

"I have to go Amanda," he whispered loud enough for me to here. He gave me a kiss and walked out of the door before I could utter a word. I sat on the couch looking at the clock and got very annoyed. I decided that I would go and find Elizabeth and Alexis.

**Get out of town**

"Hey, Stella." I said to my dog as I walked into our giant walk-in closet.

I found my faded dark blue skinny jeans and my deep v-neck halter top. I put a button up white sweater over the dark blue and silver shirt. I grabbed my silver flats and phone and walked out the door. It was considerably warm for September and I almost felt hot. I skipped past the cafeteria and the field till I got to the library. Before I opened the door I heard something. I turned to walk into the library when laughter caught my ear. I knew that laugh, it was musical and entrancing. I turned toward the laughter and saw something I never wanted to see. Conner was sitting on the same bench he carried me away from with Jenna Carter.

"Oh no." I muttered walking into the library.  
I stalked over to Alexis's table and whispered harshly "Shield please." before I could say anything else a big shield appeared over us.

"What is he doing with Jenna Grace?!" I screamed knowing that no one could hear me. They shrugged and I started to pace. I was furious; it irked me that Conner was meeting Jenna without telling me. I liked Conner a lot and I knew he would do nothing to hurt me but I still wondered. I knew that he would probably never like anybody else, because everybody could see the way he looks at me but I still wondered could he?

"I know he likes me, a lot but why would he keep that from me?" I asked both of them but all they could give me was a confused glance and a shrug. I was a sophomore like everybody else but what would happen next year? _I'm giving myself a headache, I really need to stop thinking about this_, I thought to myself. I buttoned up my sweater thinking about how cold the library was.

"You can remove the shield now," I told Alexis. I decided not to think about it because I didn't have his side of the story, and I liked him too much to give it up now.  
When Alexis and Elizabeth were done researching for their project we walked home. In the process we ran into Conner.

"Hey babe," he said coming up to hug me. I decided to act as if I didn't see anything.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just a little woozy," I responded. He pulled me into a tight bear hug.

"Do you want me to go get Dr. Melissa?" He asked. I shook my head. I could feel his hands ball up into fist [he worries too much]. I kissed his neck because that was all I could reach in this position and tried to move out of his grip.

"I have to go, we have to wait on Erin to come home and I promised Elizabeth I would watch a movie with her."

"Ok, goodnight." He said turning to walk away. "By the way I like your outfit, it compliments your eyes." He said flashing a breathtaking smile. "Sweet dreams." I heard him whisper as he walked away.

"What was that about?" Alexis asked me as I walked in our dorm and shut the door. I plopped down on the couch nearest the window and sighed.

"He wanted to say goodnight," I replied agitated.  
Both Alexis and Elizabeth shot me wary glances.

"Well … just before I came over here he got a text and who wouldn't tell me who it was." I said begrudgingly. They both immediately perked up.

"Why would he do that?" Liz asked.

"I don't know." I said not meeting their eyes.

"Do you know who it was?" Alexis said at the same time that Elizabeth said: "What did you do?" we all started to laugh.

"I have a hunch that it was Jenna," I replied casually. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and Alexis gawked at me. "Well he seemed to be having a good time with her; plus I don't have the whole story and I trust him."

"I don't think you have a problem," Alexis said trying to hold back laughter. "But I heard that they got paired up together for a project. Conner doesn't have the same science class as any of us. By the way you are in my science class."

"Whatever," Elizabeth muttered. "That's suspicious no matter how you slice it." She said ignoring what Alexis said. But at that I had to laugh, she was never that agitated with somebody.

"No, it doesn't matter Jenna is too nice to go for someone who is taken," I replied. I wasn't really all that worried about it. "Can we not talk about it?"

I heard my phone buzz and found it on the living room table. Julia was texting me.  
"_I might be home later than planned so don't wait up._

_Love you, Julia."_

I tried to keep my eyes open long enough for Julia to tell me about her date but I ended up falling asleep around 11:30. Last I remembered I was laying on the couch next to Alexis, but in the middle of the night I could feel someone carry me to my bed, but I was much too tired to see who it was.  
I woke up from a nightmare at 5:00 am. I knew it was a nightmare even though I couldn't remember it because I was crying. I didn't want to know. I decided to take a tour of the main school building. I walked past the library and across from the dining hall to the big double doors of the main building. I pushed open the door and headed for the office.

"Can I help you sweetie?" a lady at the main desk asked me, I looked at her name plate and it said "Mrs. Martin".

"Yes, I'm Amanda Bennett and I was wondering if you had my school papers?" I asked hopeful, even at 5 in the morning. She fluttered around her desk and came up with a stack of papers.

"Oh yes, your Amanda." She said handing them to me. "If you need anything let me know." I waved and walked down the hall. I looked for my locker number but didn't need it; I had Erin next to me. My locker was the second one next to a classroom. She had put a sticker with my name on my locker; and her name on her locker. I put in my combination and found a lot already in my locker. There was a mirror and A LOT of pictures. I had all of my school books, binders for every class in assorted designs and all the folders I needed. The first thing I noticed was the book bag in my locker. It was a messenger bag and was many colors of blue and green. The design was polka dots, it was gorgeous. I grabbed the bag and stuffed all of my papers in it except for my schedule. Inside the bag was the book Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. It was for drama class. There were also many different pencils and pens. I took another look at my schedule.

1st period- history Mrs. Bentley

2nd period- free period

3rd period- English Mrs. Stark

4th period- gym/power training Coach Stanley

5th period- lunch

6th period- science/chemistry Mrs. Whitlock

*Drama after school from 4:00- 5:00 Mrs. Bryan

*Dance after school from 4:00- 5:30

I walked up to all my teachers' doors and checked to see if I missed anything. There was only one conversation that I particularly did not like. I walked to Mrs. Bryan's door and knocked.

"Come in," a voice called to me. I opened the door and walked back in time. There was a HUGE stage in the middle of the room and movie theatre like seats. There was a small closet in the corner of the room and a teacher desk to the right of the door. "You must be Amanda."

I looked at the woman behind the desk and was surprised. She was fairly young for a teacher. She had gorgeous strawberry blonde hair down to her chest, Blue eyes and fair skin. She looked like she was still in her twenties.

"Yes, I'm Amanda. You must be Mrs. Bryan." I replied walking to her desk, "I was wondering if I missed anything while I was … away."

She shuffled some papers on her desk and turned back to me.

"Well we have been talking about our upcoming play Romeo and Juliet, and everybody in our class has auditioned but you, so you still have to do that on Monday, Oh and I still haven't chosen Juliet." She said winking at me. I looked at her for a second and then it registered in my brain.

"Really? Who is playing Romeo or have you chosen him yet?" I asked hopeful. She looked at her desk for a second.

"Umm… Justin Williams." She said smiling as she looked up at me. I smiled and was happy I got the main role. "But there is one thing you should know; we are performing the entire play in front of the school, including the kiss scene and another scene I added in."

I gawked at her.

"The kiss scene? Umm … Okay." I said gulping. My mind drifted to what the look on Conner's face would be when I told him this, it wasn't going to be pretty. I thanked Mrs. Bryan and walked out of the classroom dazed.

I could see the lights were still out in our dorm so I stayed in the field and started to read Romeo and Juliet. After about an hour and a half someone sat down beside me. At first I didn't realize it, but then I could feel them reading over my shoulder.

"Hey, what are you reading?" a girl asked me while sitting down next to me. She had curly hair down almost to her waist, her eyes were ice blue. She was wearing a white sweatshirt with black pants and red flats. Her black, brown looking hair contrasted with her outfit. "I'm Taylor O'Connell."

"That's a really pretty name," I commented.

"Yeah," She said laughing. "So what are you reading?"

I looked back down at the book and handed it to her.

"You're Amanda aren't you?" she suddenly asked me smiling. I nodded and she laughed. "You're very pretty if I might say!"

I blushed and smiled again. "Thank you." She nodded still looking me over.

"I'm playing the nurse in the play." She replied. She handed me back the book and looked at her watch. "By the way, can't wait to see you in history."

She stood up and waved then walked away towards the dorms.

I got back to the dorm about 7:00, just to see Elizabeth and Lexi rushing out the door with a breakfast bar in both of their hand. Julia's first class didn't start until about 8:00 so she had some extra time. "Hey Julia," I said as I walked to the refrigerator.

"Hey. Where were you this morning? I woke up and you weren't there," she explained.

"Oh I was just giving myself a little tour of the campus and I met the drama teacher," I said as I poured milk into a bowl of lucky charms.

"Mrs. Bryan? Yeah she was my biology teacher freshman year. She is pretty cool." She told me as I walked into the bathroom carrying my cereal. Julia had her hair pinned into different sections on top of her head straightening one part at a time.

"What are you doing," I asked giving her a funny look.

She answered while she continued to work, "I felt like a change so I decided I would wear my hair straight like Lex's today."

"Alrighty then?" As I turned on the TV "This love" by the veronicas sounded. Julia came out of the bathroom 5 minutes later with stick straight hair. It literately glistened in the light.

"So what do ya' think?" she asked as she raked her fingers through the ends of her hair.

"I like it. You should straighten it more often," I suggested. She shrugged.

"I don't know it's such a hassle." She replied. I rolled my eyes at her. She ran to our desk and scrambled around, she seemed to be looking for something.

"What are you looking for? Hey, you never told me about your date!" I accused her. She looked at me and smiled.

"To much to tell, I'll tell you after school. And as for what I'm looking for, I'm looking for my lip gloss!" she yelled while digging through her mass of purses. I laughed and opened the drawer on the nightstand.

"Looking for this?" I asked her holding her tube of pink lip gloss. She ran over to me and grabbed it from my hand; I gave her a hug and pushed her towards the door. She stuck out her tongue and picked up her blue flowered tote from the chair and waved as she walked into the front room. I sat down on the bed and petted Stella's fur while staring out the window at all the kids traveling across the field to the main building. I caught a glimpse of Liz and Alexis walking across with Mathew, and Justin. Madison was not there but her mini-me's were. They were giving Elizabeth the evil eye the whole way.

"Water," I whispered. Both Katherine and Kayla were covered in water. They looked around and screamed. I opened the window and started to laugh. Alexis and Elizabeth looked my way and waved, both of them were laughing. I waved and then everybody was out of sight. I noticed that Conner was missing. I sighed, turned off the TV and got up and walked to the living room.

"Class starts in 20 minutes," Julia said looking up from the couch. I sat down beside her and laid my head on her shoulder. I sighed and stared into space. She patted my head and I could feel her lay her head on mine.

"What's wrong?" she asked sounding motherly. I sighed again.

"Where is Conner this morning?" I asked not really wanting to know the answer. I could feel her shrug. I sighed, it really didn't matter. Erin got up and headed for the door. "Where are you going? Your first class starts in 15 minutes."

She threw me a sheepish look and sighed. "I'm going to meet up with William before class starts."

I smiled at her and told her to go to him. She has the world's perfect relationship, I thought to myself. I turned the TV on just as she shut the door. Nothing was on since it was 7:45 in the morning so I just put it on the video countdown. Just as Rihanna came on I got up and headed for our closet. I walked into the bathroom and found that all 3 dogs were following me. I laughed and walked into our closet. I also noticed that on my side of the closet there were a couple of new things. I danced over and looked around. There were 3 new shirts, 2 new sundresses and a pair of new heels. I grabbed the sandal/ heels, a skirt, and one of the new shirts. I grabbed a piece of paper off of the first sundress and laughed. The note said "this one we share – Julia". The dress was halter and white with red polka dots down to the hemline but then had red flowers. There was a pair of red flats underneath the dress.

I pulled the baby doll tank top over my head and put on my short jean skirt. I looked in the mirror and inspected myself. The green and white baby doll shirt contrasted with my skirt and shoes. I grabbed the wedge heels and took my time putting one on each foot. I made sure the dogs were put in their rooms and walked out the door.

"Ah crap." I said as I remembered I had to change the "dressing" on my arm. I unlocked our door and walked back into the bathroom. I took off the gauze on my arm and replaced it, then recovered it with the tan wrapping. I sighed as I looked into the mirror. The cut under my eye was not puffy anymore, just a small brownish cut, easily covered by foundation. My left arm was covered in the tan wrapping, but only the top near my shoulder. I put on some mascara and walked out the door. I looked at my phone as I locked the door, 9:00 a.m. 2 hours went by so fast, I thought. I walked past the common room, but then stopped. I skipped back to the snack bar and grabbed a coke. I then turned around and headed out the door. I smiled at the sunshine and danced to my car. I took the keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door. I was in my car before the minute on the clock could change. Once I was in the car I was about to set my coke in the cup holder when I noticed a single orchid. I picked up the flower and smelled it.

"Hmmm …" I said out loud as I smelled the flower and wondered where it came from. My car had been locked for 6 days straight. The keys had been in my purse, in my room, in our closet ever since I had been knocked out of it. My mind started to wander. I decided to push it to the back of my mind and started the car. I turned on the radio and rolled the window down. I didn't know where I was going. But anywhere was better than being stuck in our room all day, no matter how much I loved it. I backed out of my parking space and headed to the front of the school. I almost ran over Taylor.

"Hey!" she called to me walking up to my open window. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not sure, but out of here." I told her truthfully. She smiled and nodded.

"Could you use a friend?" she asked me sheepishly. I laughed and nodded. She opened the passenger door and hopped in. "Nice flower."

I looked at the flower sitting on my dashboard.

"Yeah it was in my car this morning, no note either. Funny though my car has been locked for like 6 days." I told her thoughtfully. She gave me a confused look. "Hey … wait aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Ha no, I went back to my dorm with a migraine before class started, and it went away 15 minutes ago, I have nothing to do." She said with a devious smile. "What's your excuse?" she asked teasing.

I pointed to my arm and laughed. I looked at the road and accelerated the engine. We headed out of school grounds and towards town.


End file.
